By: Dhruv Garg

Engineer/ Boiler/ PS-TS

 Hydraulic Test (Drainable and Non-Drainable
portions of pressure parts)
 Trial Run of Equipments(Fans – PA, FD, ID,
Scanner, Seal Air & Air heaters)
 All Gates and Dampers Commissioning
 Air and Gas Tightness Test (Furnace, 2nd pass,
ESP, air & flue gas ducts)
 Fuel Oil System Readiness(LDO / HFO Pumps,
Steam Blowing and Oil Flushing of oil lines)
 Control and Isolation Valves commissioning
(Motorized & Pneumatic)
 Secondary Air Damper Control(SADC) Commissioning
 First Boiler Light Up
 FSSS (furnace safeguard supervisory system)
commissioning
 Checks on – oil guns, igniter system, equipments
in oil/air lines, furnace probe & thermocouples.

 Alkali Flushing and EDTA Cleaning

 Steam Blowing (MS, CRH and HRH)
 HP & LP Bypass Commissioning
 Safety Valve Floating
 Mills Commissioning
 Soot Blowers Commissioning
 In spite of doing pre-operational chemical
cleaning of the circulation system. certain
quantity of debris in the form of scales,
loose materials, weld spatter, etc will remain
in the boiler tubes & the pipe lines especially
in the Superheater coils, Reheater coils,
Main steam line, Cold and Hot Reheat Lines.
 Subsequent steam blowing completes the
task of providing a cleaner system for
passing steam into the turbine. In other
words we attain steam of required quality
standard by way of chemical cleaning,
steam blowing and steam dumping method
 Failure to remove debris may result in
increased turbine erosion, blade damage
and rapid deterioration of turbine efficiency.
 Puffing Method

 Continuous Blowing method

 Puffing Method
The system (surfaces) to be clean is first
pressurized by steam up to 40-50 kg/cm2 pressure
and then releasing of this pressure upto 20-25
kg/cm2 into the atmosphere suddenly caused the
cleaning of system internal surfaces, due to high
kinetic velocity attained by steam.
 Continuous Blowing Method
The surface to be clean is continuously blown by
superheated steam for 20-30 min at 12 kg/cm2 &
300-350 0C parameters with cooling down period
of 1.5 hrs.
 Drum outlet to Final Super-heater header.
 Main steam line up to HP Turbine inlet.
 Cold Reheat line up to Re-heater inlet.
 Re-heater Coils & Headers.
 Hot Reheat Line up to IP turbine inlet.
 HP and LP bypass Lines.
 All Auxiliary steam lines.
 ( d x t) mm

 SH Outlet Pipes : 406 x 42

 MSL : 564 x 57
 CRH : 864 x 35
 CRH to Re-heater inlet : 620 x 20
 RH to HRH : 750 X 45
 HRH : 969 X 60
 HP BP line : 334 X 35
 LP BP line : 720 X 45
Three Stage Cleaning (Only for NTPC Projects)
1. (a) Drum outlet up to Main Steam Line (includes
Superheater, Main Steam Lines up to H.P Turbine
inlet)
2. (a) Drum outlet up to Re-heater inlet (includes
Superheater, Main Steam Lines upto H.P Turbine
inlet & Cold Reheat Lines)
(b) Drum outlet to Reheater (also includes H.P
Bypass lines in addition to above lines)
3. (a) Drum outlet to Hot Reheat Lines outlet
(includes SH, MSL, CRH, RH and HRH lines up to I.P
turbine inlet)
(b) Drum outlet to Hot Reheat Lines outlet (also
includes L.P Bypass lines in addition to above lines)
Two Stage Cleaning (For all other Projects)
1. (a)Drum outlet up to Re-heater inlet (includes
Superheater, Main Steam Lines upto H.P Turbine
inlet, Cold Reheat Lines)
(b) Drum outlet to Reheater (also includes H.P
Bypass lines in addition to above lines)

2. (a)Drum outlet to Hot Reheat Lines outlet

(includes SH, MSL, CRH, RH and HRH lines up to
I.P turbine inlet)
(b) Drum outlet to Hot Reheat Lines outlet (also
includes L.P Bypass lines in addition to above
lines)
T.G Floor (Horizontal Direction)

 Drum outlet up to Main Steam Line

 Drum outlet to Hot Reheat Lines outlet

Boiler Level at 50-60 Metre (Vertical direction)

 Drum outlet up to Re-heater inlet.

 BOILER
DRUM

HRH CRH I/L

D1 D2 STAGE 2a & 2b A1 A2
STAGE 2a & 2b
TP SH O/L
TP HEADER
Nb 600 C1 C2 Nb 600

HOTV 2b
TP APRDS
APRDS SPP 2b
TO DEAERATOR HOTV
SPP
HE 1,2 & 5
S S TO BFPS
(4a & 4b)
S S S
E1 E2 B1 B2

CRH
LPBP LPBP
Nb 600 ESV ESV Nb 320
Nb 600 IV IV
7 8 EOTV EOTV
Nb 320
3
2a
2a Nb 320

4
STAGE 3b
5 1 2
Nb 600 3a
STAGE 3b 6
Nb 600 3a
Nb 600 Nb 600
TP TP
Status of Blanks during STAGE 1 & 3a
Steam Blowing
Status of BlanksLocations
during
Steam Blowing
1 2 3 Locations
4 5 6 7 8
STAGE 1 O O B B B B B
1 2 3 4 5 B 6 7 8
LEGENDS STAGE 2 a
STAGE 1
B B O
O O B
O
B
B B B B
B B B B
STAGE 2b B O B
B B O B
B B B
: STAGE 2 a
STAGE 3 a B
B O
B O
O
O
B B B
O O B BB
STAGE 2b B B O O B B B
S- Strainer STAGE
STAGE 33ba B B
B B O O O
O B
O B O O B O
B
O-Through
3 b Orifice Flange O B-Blank
B BFlange
Blanks STAGE B B O O O

TP-Target Plate
HOTV- Hand Operated
Temporary Valve
ESV- Emergancy Steam Blowing Scheme for
Stop Valve
EOTV-Electrical Operated
3 stage
Temporary Valve
BOILER END CRH LINE
457x14.2 711.2x 25
2ND STAGE

457
BOILER END CRH
LINE
323.9
273 457

HP BYPASS 323.9

457
HOTV
EOTV
219.1

MSL ESV
1ST STAGE
MSL ESV

HRH IV
3RD STAGE

HRH IV

508 LPBP VALVES HOTV

Steam Blowing Scheme (2 stage steam blowing)

250 MW Boiler
 The boiler is to be lighted up in a normal manner,
following start up procedure from Boiler O&M
manual.
 Boiler drum pressure raised to 40 – 50 kg/sq.cm.
 Water level in the drum kept at the lowest port
(visible limit) before the start of each steam blow
off.
 The lines to be blown is charged slowly with steam
using the Main Stop Valve bypass lines and
warmed up for 30 mins, keeping all the drains in
open condition to avoid hammering.
 Test Blow at 25 kg/ sq.cm pressure up to
15 kg/ sq.cm to be given first before start of each
stage of steam blowing to ensure the system
healthiness.
 Light off the Boiler at the specified drum
pressure & at the same time, open the valve
(Electrically Operated Travelling Valve) for
sudden release of pressure in the flow of steam
through all pressurized pipelines into the
atmosphere.
 Close this valve at a pressure of 20-25 kg/sq.
cm. Also ensure that, fall in the drum metal
temp. is not going to exceeds above 40-45 deg C
to avoid thermal stress in the metal.
 Limit number of blows per day to 8 with an
interval of 1 ½ hours for cooling in addition to
overnight cooling.
(Typical Steam blowing starting time at 0600 hrs
and end time at 2200hrs)
 Targets plates used initially near pipelines outlet can
be of mild steel material but finished stainless steel
T.P must be used for declaring the completion of
steam blowing.
The final result of the blowing operations can be
judged by the absolute number of pittings found on
the target plate in the central zone. The piping is
considered clean, if there are not more than 5
pittings and shall not have any deformed edges.
Besides this, there shall be no pitting in the rim zone.

 If Disturbance Factor (D.F) is used for completion

criteria, then calculation for the same must be done
for each circuit & its value must be greater than 1.
(D.F is the ratio of the steam flow during steam
blowing operation to the Steam flow at MCR.)
S.N Site Stage No. of Blows Remarks
1 Unchahar U # 5, 1 40 MSL
210 MW (NTPC)

2 13+8 CRH + HPBP

3 24+6 HRH + LPBP
2 Parichha U # 3, 1 18+4 MSL &CRH + HPBP
250 MW
(UPRVUNL)
2 18+4 HRH + LPBP
3 New Parli U#7, 1 31+3 MSL & CRH + HPBP
250 MW

2 12+2 HRH + LPBP

4 Vindhyachal U# 9, 1 47 MSL
500 MW (NTPC)

2 15+9 CRH + HPBP

3 27+9 HRH + LPBP
To remove debris, scales and weld splatters and
clean the internal surface of oil lines in the LDO /
HFO system including atomizing steam lines and
steam tracing lines.
The Fuel oil plant consists of facilities for Unloading,
Storage and Supply of LDO and HFO.
Fuel Oil Pump House is located close to Fuel Storage
Yard.

The Pump house houses:

 LDO and HFO Pumps for Main Boiler

 HFO Heaters
 HFO cooler in the return line
 Drain Oil Tank & Drain Pump
 Electrical & control Panels for FO Pump House
auxiliaries
 The line to be blown is charged slowly with
auxiliary steam and warmed up, keeping the
drains open.
 After proper charging , blow is given for 20-30
minutes.
 Steam at a pressure of 10-12 Kg/cm2 and having
a superheat of at least 350 deg C at source is
used for blowing.
 The line is allowed to cool for 1-2 hours and then
again blown.
 Blowing of drains, vents and instrument tapping
points is done at 5 Kg/cm2 for 10 minutes each.
 Blowing of LDO lines, Steam tracing lines and
condensate lines is done at 6 Kg/cm2 for 20-30
minute each.
 Drains / vents of FO lines are kept open as
required during steam blowing and thereafter for
draining of condensate.
 After sufficient cooling, the piping are dried with
compressed air.
 After completion of steam blowing, all spool pieces
are removed and Trip valves, control valves, flow
elements, filter elements and NRV internals are
restored / normalized. Pipe connections to LDO /
HFO pumps are normalized and pumps are
commissioned.
 Steam blowing of the section of LDO / HFO lines is
declared complete after minimum five blows each
having a blow duration of 20-30 minutes.

 Blowing medium at exit of the pipe should be

visually clean.